Feds to Michigan Gov. Whitmer: Hands Off the Line 5 Pipeline
The Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Civil Division last week filed a statement of interest in a case in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan between Enbridge Energy and the State of Michigan.
Since 2019, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have tried to shutter the 645-mile pipeline that carries 540,000 gallons of hydrocarbons daily across Lake Michigan's lakebed since 1953. The pipeline runs from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Canada,
The pipeline supplies 65% of the propane demand in the Upper Peninsula and 55% of Michigan’s statewide propane needs, according to Enbridge.
“The federal government already comprehensively regulates pipeline safety, but Michigan is trying to usurp the Department of Transportation’s statutory authority,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of ENRD. “President Trump has made clear that the United States will not tolerate state overreach that interferes with American energy dominance.”
In 2020, Michigan issued a notice terminating Enbridge’s easement for its Line 5 pipeline that traversed underground through the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Michigan issued the notice — which in effect is a safety standard — so it could shut down an international pipeline that provides significant energy to the United States.
The energy delivered through Line 5 fuels multiple Midwestern states, including Wisconsin, Ohio, and Illinois.
The United States’ statement notes that the federal Pipeline Safety Act charges the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration with setting nationwide safety standards for interstate pipelines and related infrastructure. By imposing its own safety standards on an interstate and international pipeline, Michigan improperly encroached on PHMSA’s exclusive authority under the Pipeline Safety Act.
Additionally, the pipeline is subject to a to a 1877 treaty between Canada and the U.S. that prohibits Michigan from shuttering the pipeline. The statement highlights that shutting down this international pipeline interferes with the United States’ exclusive authority in foreign affairs.
Last year, Nessel announced a climate change lawsuit against Michigan’s oil companies. The lawsuit still hasn’t been filed over a year later but the DOJ has sued Michigan for planning to sue oil companies.
Chief of Staff and Senior General Counsel John Adams of ENRD filed the motion.
For years, the state government and Enbridge have fought about whether the dispute should be heard in state or federal court. Michigan initially claimed government immunity from the Enbridge lawsuit, although the court tossed out that claim.
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